Orcas in Captivity live to 50-60 years. Average ages at Sea World who have expired were 13 years old. These mammals have attacked and killed three Sea World employees, Killer Whales are more experienced in their wild habitat in the ocean, Orcas can become stressed and this causes an injury or death. Orcas wouldn't have any space to swim freely in the the tank they are captive in, the company says that their condition is "common" - In the wild, this is rare and it is a sign of a bad health condition or injury. Imagine swimming in a bathtub for your whole lifespan. Sea World bounds Killer Whales, whom could swim up to 100 miles a day, However in a tank they would need to swim over to 1,208 laps around the bathtub sized tank.

*My contender has not stated a resolution, therefore I will interpret the resolution to be "Orcas should not be held in captivity". Burden of proof is shared.

Orca (n): A black-and-white toothed whale that feeds on large fish, squid, and marine mammals such as seals, other whales, and dolphins. Also called Killer Whale. [1]

Captivity (n): The condition of being imprisoned or confined. [2]

Rebuttal:

"Orcas in Captivity live to 50-60 years. Average ages at Sea World who have expired were 13 years old."

-This statement contradicts itself. Orcas at Sea World are held in captivity. Con states that orcas in captivity live 50-60 years, then proceeds to state that the average ages of orcas at sea world is 13 years.

"These mammals have attacked and killed three Sea World employees."

-This statement is false. I looked it up. The three Sea World employees were killed by only one orca, which cannot account for the entire species.

-According to my source, this orca's name is Tilikum, and he attacked 3 humans because he developed stress from constantly performing tricks at Sea World. [3]

-Performing tricks has nothing to do with being held in captivity. orcas can be held in captivity without having to perform tricks.

-Tilikum cannot account for all killer whales because he has lived in harsher conditions than normal orcas. He spent a year living in a small concrete tank, and that contributed to the build up of his stress. However, other orcas are usually kept in much more comfortable conditions. [3]

-By the way Tilikum is still alive today and is 33 years old, which is much older than 13.

"Orcas wouldn't have any space to swim freely in the the tank they are captive in"

-This is true, assuming they are held captive in a small tank. But being held captive doesn't neccessarily mean the captive is constrained to extrememly little space. You can keep orcas captive in a very big tank in which they have plenty of space to swim.

-In the ocean, an orca needs a lot of space to swim because it needs to swim a lot to find food. But if they are held in captivity, they are fed all the food they need, so they don't need to swim that much.

"Orcas wouldn't have any space to swim freely in the the tank they are captive in, the company says that their condition is "common" - In the wild, this is rare and it is a sign of a bad health condition or injury."

-What condition are you reffering to? I don't understand this statement. Can you please rephrase that?

"Imagine swimming in a bathtub for your whole lifespan."

-This is not a fair analogy. As a human, I am not designed to swim for my whole lifespan, which killer whales are. Also, as a human, I am entitled to rights that killer whales aren't entitled to.

Contentions:

C1. Helping orcas Survive

-Sometimes when an animal is injured so badly, they cannot survive in their habitat on their own. Animal rescue teams may rescue this animal and keep it in captivity, taking care of it until it has recovered from their injury. Then they will set it free in their original habitat. This might be the case for some orcas in captivity.

C2. Science

-They might be held in captivity for science. Scientists can use orcas to study their anatomy and echolocation, which can help submarines navigate better.

C3. Economy

-Sea World has orca shows, and the audience loves them. Many people go to Sea World for the sole purpose of seeing the Killer Whale show. If these killer whales were not there, Sea World would lose a tremendous amount of money in revenue, an amount so tremendous, it would certainly affect the economy, and many people would lose their jobs. C4. Sea Turtles

-One of the orcas's favorite things to eat are sea turtles. [4]

-Sea turtles are extremely endangered, and one of the biggest reasons why they're endangered is because predators eat them and their eggs. [5]

-orcas are one of the sea turtles' biggest predators. By keeping some orcas in captivity, we reduce the rate at which orcas hunt and kill sea turtles, thus also reducing the rate at which sea turtles become extinct.